The Commissary

Goldilocks ate here on a slow Sunday evening in the Arts District. Her waitress told her several times that it was a new menu, and from reading what other writers have said, it must be, because on this night the story was unimaginative and not too terribly exciting. Goldilocks had the lamb pocket sandwich and her date had the special which was a gnocchi salad with chicken and pork belly. Both dishes were mediocre at best. Goldi’s was too large and and the date’s was too small. Neither were just right.

I wished I had come here when John Tesar was still here because I think it might have been really special. As it is now, it is just okay and that’s not good enough to distinguish yourself from all the other great burger places in Dallas (especially if you’re charging $ 12 for a burger).
The meat was really flavorful. Too bad they don’t know how to ensure it’s cooked medium when that’s how you ordered it. One was absolutely raw inside. Also, the exotic burgers (I had the West Coast burger) don’t hold together well when you eat them. Makes for a mess when you least expect it.
Fries really good and service great. Atmosphere is a little like a 19^th hole.
Good but probably not worth a return visit unless you’re in the immediate area.
Flat face

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel like I might have found a burger that compares to Yo Mama’s…finally!
The Commissary is deserving of at least 4 stars. Really can’t understand what happened for these other peeps that are giving it such a low rating.
Parmesan and truffle oil popcorn. ‘Nuff said.
The skinny fries are to die for. The sweet potato tots melt in your mouth. I had the «Magic» burger… but I worked my magic on it and abracadabra, it was enchanting! Traded the English muffin for a grilled and buttered sesame seed bun… added avocado and jalapeños. Holy smokes! My taste buds were doing cartwheels! The aged cheddar and applewood smoked bacon were salty and strong. The burger is grass fed and cooked to your perfection.
Jodie was an amazing server and she deserves 5 stars. A waitress with personality? In Dallas? I know, I know. You don’t believe me. I wish she could follow me around and keep me entertained wherever I go.
The Texas pinot on tap is surprisingly fantastic. Promise. And any place serving up Franconia gets my vote.
You can relax at a small table inside the sleek and dark interior, or let the nearby fountains serenade you as you sit on the breezy patio.
Sometimes I just need a little greasy goodness in my life!

Food wasn’t that great and neither was the service. The hostess, however, was GREAT. But our server was not. I asked for Club Soda and she said they may not have it. Okay. But then she never came back and told me either way. I asked what the soup of the day was, again she said they may not have one today but she would check. (I’m like, «It’s 1:30 honey. How long have you been working your shift?») The guy that took over was much better but we still had empty water glasses and he brought our appetizers, sat them down and left. We had to go ask the hostess for silverware and plates.
Now we didn’t get their burgers but we did get 3 salads: The Beet Salad was about 1.5 cups total. And it was $ 14. My friends salad with lamb was $ 18. It was a lamb patty with arugula and some dressing. Nothing outstanding and I wouldn’t go back based on this meal and experience.

I am months late in writing this, eeks, but WTH… let’s do this.
I was in Dallas for a wedding that included a series of events, one of them being a lobster bake. 200 miles from the nearest shore. At a burger bistro. Huh?
I gotta say, the food was gooooooood. REALLY good. My meal consisted of a tomato basil salad, corn on the cob, sausage, steamer clams, lobster tail, and a slice of pecan pie.
But…I was with a large party, that included children. Most of the adults ordered appetizers & burgers, kids had hot dogs.
Strangely enough, the first of MY food came out. I felt just a wee bit guilty eating my salad, then gnawing on the corn.
Then they brought on the steamers & sausage. I felt inclined to share, then hallelujah, the appetizers started coming out. Those steamers were sweetly delish, I could’ve made a meal out of them…
As I was enjoying my succulent lobster, the burgers arrived, and then finally, the kids’ hot dogs. Seriously… kids get served last?
I’d give 4 stars for the food alone, but am taking one away for the oddball service. I might give half a star for the bathroom… chalk time anyone?

CarryOut Update
Ordered Carryout last night. Service over the phone was Great and it only tool 15 min to prepare! Ordered the West Coast Burger (My fav) and Mac and Cheese. The food was good but not nearly as good if you get it fresh from the restaurant. In my opinion. save you $$ on carryout and go to WhataBurger if you want something fast to take home.

It’s good. It’s not $ 14 before tax and tip for one burger good.
But, that’s the price you pay for low budget, high trend ambience. AND, to be fair, fresh, local ingredients.
Fries (potato and avocado) were, IMO, overly salted. If you have high blood pressure, stay away. You might just keel over eating an unsatisfactory last meal of your life.
My expectations were high, especially since the chef/​owner was featured on the cover of D-​Mag and they gave him several pages of black and white.
Back to Maple and Motor for me.

Summary: Great burgers, average sides and drinks, poor service.
Went to dinner on a Wednesday before seeing Rock of Ages and had a mixed experience.
We arrived at about 6:15 and there were empty tables and plenty of room to sit in the couches on the patio. We went to the hostess stand and he greeted us with a very sheepish «hiii» with his shoulders up like he was apologizing. It was really the strangest way I’ve ever been greeted at a restaurant. So I said «what’s wrong?» And he said «We have about a 20 minute wait, and then it could be another 20 minutes before you get your food». We check the time, figure we’ll be eating by 7 in this scenario and the show didn’t start until 8 — we were in good shape. So why the huge apology? Maybe I should have taken it as a warning?
We sat on the patio sofas and a cocktail waitress got our drink order. I ordered the red wine spritzer and I must say it was not very tasty at all. Basically tasted like red wine with soda water, even though the description said it came with a tangerine soda. We found out later that the artisanal sodas on the menu don’t actually exist yet so they subbed something else. Bad call, Commissary — I was annoyed I paid $ 9 for it.
We were actually sat in 15 minutes which was a pleasant surprise, and immediately placed our entire order. We asked for the Disco Fries to come out as our appetizer. We then ordered the Tandoori Burger and the Tail End burger and our server told us we could sub out the skinny fries for other sides, so we got sweet potato tots and avocado fries instead.
About 15 minutes later, we received the avocado fries as an appetizer. Ummm… okay I guess that works. They were great — thick slices of avocado in a tempura batter fried to a crisp with a spicy mayo dipping sauce.
A few minutes later the disco fries showed up. These were thicker cut fries with jalepeno powder sprinkled on top and drizzled with queso. They were quite tasty and very potato-​ey, though I thought the fries could be a little crispier perhaps.
Then finally our burgers came, about 40 minutes after we initially ordered (I was starting to get antsy about making the show when they finally showed up). Our burgers arrived with the standard skinny fries instead of the substituions we ordered, so the runner ran back and got us a side of the sweet potato tots. The tandoori burger was really delicious. Lamb patty with a spice rub in a pita. The Tail End burger was equally fantastic (it came with pork belly on a brioche bun). The skinny fries were super thin and salty. The sweet potato tots left something to be desired. A little too soft for my taste, and some sea salt and perhaps a touch of cinnamon would have kicked them up a notch.
I ordered another cocktail about halfway through the meal and it never arrived. The waitress noticed at the very end of the meal and offered to get it right then or take it off our bill. I chose to have it taken off as we needed to get to the show, but an option of a free cocktail would have been nice.
On inspection of our bill, we were charged full price for two of the side items and an additional $ 3 for the 3^rd (even though we were told we could sub side items for no additional charge — so we were expecting to be charged for one full price side item and that’s it).
Overall, the place gets 3 stars for fantastic burgers, but the side items are only so-​so and the service is definitely sub-​par. Hopefully this place will get it’s act together soon, in which case I’d happily return to sample another burger on their menu.